New Delhi: Badminton Association of India announced the second edition of the Indian Badminton League, here on Thursday. The League, which is all set to be 15 days of thrilling back to back games, is scheduled to take place from January 2-17, 2016. The League will yet again feature six franchisees, which will play for the title of the second edition and the prize money of USD 1 million.
The Indian Badminton League is wholly owned by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) and will be conducted by the association.
Present for the conference was World No. 1 Saina Nehwal, who has to her credit of being the first Indian woman to climb atop the world ranking. K Srikanth, who has to his credit the title win at the 2014 China Open Superseries post beating Lin Dan, Parupalli Kashyap who has to his credit winning the Gold at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, and PV Sindhu who recently stunned World No. 1 Carolina Marin beating her in the semi final clash and to reach the finals of the Denmark Open Superseries.
The rousing action will kick-start on 2nd January, 2016 in Mumbai with an extravagant Opening Ceremony and the Grand Finale will take place here in Delhi on 17th January, 2016. While Indian badminton players are engraving their names across the world, the Indian Badminton League will bring together India’s top badminton players along with international players on the same platform wherein they will showcase high-class action in front of the sports loving citizens of India.
Speaking on the 2nd edition of the Indian Badminton League, Badminton Association of India’s President, Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta said, “It’s a proud moment for me today as I announce the second edition of the Indian Badminton League and which I can assure you, will be bigger and larger than the first edition. It will an exhilarating 16 days of non-stop badminton as world’s top notch players will fight it out in front of you for the title of IBL 2. Plus what motivates me is that huge backing that we are receiving from various corporations, sponsors and broadcasters to get associated with the League and I am sure together we will give you another exciting edition of Indian Badminton League. The IBL is here to stay and we will ensure its continuity”.
The conference even witnessed the introduction of Shuttle India - the six city school program to identify young talent at grass root level. The program will be played across various schools in all 6 franchisee cities and each city will witness matches being played among the young students in both the Boys and Girls category.
Speaking on the Shuttle India initiative, Dr. Gupta added, “The idea of creating a badminton league was not only to get international players on the same platform but even create a platform for the young guns at grassroots level to take the sport as a career and Shuttle India is an initiative towards that goal. With schools participating from across six cities, we are expecting huge participation amongst the students who are already getting formal training of the same at a local level”.
The Indian Badminton League has already announced two franchisees wherein Delhi franchisee has been taken by Infinite Computer Solutions, a global service provider for IT Solutions, and Lucknow will again have the mighty Sahara Parivar who are known for their contribution to sports at large in India. The rest of the franchisees are in advance talks and the announcement for the same to be made soon.
The 2nd edition of Indian Badminton League is scheduled from 2nd– 17th January, 2016, with finals slotted to be played in Delhi on 17th January, 2016.
